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Zimbabwe police beat up protesters

People have been forced to search for water and dig wells in Zimbabwe's two main cities [AFP]

Annual inflation has hit 213 million per cent - up from 619.50 per cent in 2003.

Runaway inflation

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said the release of the new notes followed a recent review of the limit on cash withdrawal.

The limit has been revised upwards to Z$50m for individuals and Z$100m for company account holders, The Herald newspaper said.

Before the recent increase, the withdrawal limit for individual account holders was Z$ 500,000 while companies were allowed to withdraw Z$ 1m a day, the paper said.

Zimbabwe cholera toll, meanwhile, has risen to 565 people - the biggest outbreak of the disease in the country, the UN said on Wednesday.

The UN humanitarian affairs office said 12,546 people were suspected of being infected with the disease, which under normal circumstances is preventable and treatable, with Harare, the capital, the worst affected.

Once described as a model economy and a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed over the past decade and there are acute shortages of basic foodstuffs like sugar and cooking oil.

Public hospitals have largely shut down due to drug and equipment shortages as well as frequent strikes by doctors and nurses pressing for better pay.